Flower Sorting Discovery Tray

Spring is in full swing and there a re beautiful flowers blooming everywhere! Taking apart flowers and plants are a great way to explore the different parts that make up plants. Set up this EASY Flower Sorting Discovery tray with either store bought flowers, flowers/plants from the yard, or flowers/plants from a nature walk. Add a magnifying glass and some tweezers for some extra fun!

Here’s what you’ll need to get started:

assortment of flowers, whole and broken into parts (sunflowers are great!)

seeds, roots, stems, leaves, flowers

magnifying glasses (optional but so fun for the kids!)

trays or plates to contain the mess

Set up a tray with the following labels: roots, stems, leaves, and petals, along with a magnifying glass. I placed a sunflower on each tray to get the kids started.

Invite them to sort through the plant parts and ask them why they sorted them the way they did. Kids often interchange sticks and stems. Discuss how there are different shapes and sizes of leaves. Have them tell you the colors of the petals. Count the petals on the flowers or the leaves on the stem for a math extension. This activity is great for the youngest toddlers and the older preschoolers and kindergarteners.

Science behind the activity:

Kids love to sort and there is something exceptionally fun about being able to take something apart that you are not usually allowed to do. It also gives them a chance to freely explore, make their own connections with the plants and sort all the parts. Young children LOVE to sort. Older ones love counting. It’s also a great sensory activity where they can touch and smell the plants.

Extensions:

Take your tots out for a nature walk and have them collect parts of plants. Especially after a good rain, it was fun for my boys to pull weeds from the yard and see the roots. Then sort the treasures collected on the nature walk. When the kids are done dissecting and sorting the plant/flower parts, use the petals and leaves and sticks to create your own art project by making a Nature Suncatcher or just an art activity.

Here’s an easy suncatcher we made with plants and flowers pressed in between 2 sheets of contact paper: